3 trade packages Patriots could receive for the third overall pick

3. Patriots receive 6th pick, 47th pick, 2025 first-round pick from New York Giants

The New York Giants are the sleeper team in the 2024 NFL Draft that fans should be keeping an eye on. There is no clarity at the quarterback position with Daniel Jones and this is a team that should be desperate to find the next franchise guy that can save some jobs.

If the Giants are very high on a particular quarterback (like Daniels) and he is available with the third pick then they should be very interested in moving up. There is a lot of risk involved in sticking with the sixth overall pick, especially as both the Cardinals and Chargers could trade down.

If either of those teams trades down and a quarterback is selected (assuming the Pats also take a quarterback) then the Giants are going to get the fifth choice of QB with the sixth pick. At that point, it would not really even be worth it to take a quarterback and the team would be putting faith in either Jones or a second-rounder.

Thus, the Giants could look to leapfrog all of those teams and go straight to the third pick to have their choice of quarterback. Meanwhile, the Patriots would still get a decent return (a second-round pick and a first-round pick next year) for only moving back three spots.

That seems like a lot to move up three spots but there is a quarterback tax that happens in these deals. Back in 2018, the New York Jets traded three second-round picks to move from six to three for Sam Darnold. This return would be slightly more than that given the circumstances.

This would be a genius move for the Pats if the team is high on McCarthy and doesn't think the Cardinals or Chargers trade down. There is a world in which the Pats can pick up the extra assets and still end up with the quarterback they like the most.

It might be the most unforeseen of these potential packages but it might just be the best for New England.